Method of preparing matrices for a composing and casting machine



1968 .1. SCHNEIDER 3,

METHOD OF PREPARING MATRICES FOR A COMPOSING AND CASTING MACHINE Filed June 18, 1965 FIG5 INVENTOR Julius SCHNEiDER United States Patent METHOD OF PREPARING MATRICES FOR A COMPOSING AND CASTING MACHINE Julius Schneider, 9 Maximiliansplatz 8, Munich 27, Germany Filed June 18, 1965, Ser. No. 464,985 Claims priority, application Germany, June 22, 1964, Sch 35,362, Patent No. 1,251,340 15 Claims. (Cl. 204-6) This invention relates to the printing art, and particularly to a method of preparing matrices for a composing and casting machine.

An object of the invention is the mass production of matrices by means of electrodeposition. More specifically, the invention aims at providing precisely made matrices for machines which compose type from individual matrices and cast slugs on the matrices for printing. The method of the invention can be carried out in a minimum of space.

According to one aspect of the invention, individual letters or type conforming to the material which is ultimately to be cast are assembled into a block. The type is of electrically conductive material and the several pieces of type are conductively connected to each other in such manner that the faces are directed in the same direction, and preferably extend in a: common plane. The assembled block is covered with stop-off material except for the letter faces and for other parts of the block which provide a conductive path between the faces.

The block partly covered with stop-01f material is immersed in an electroplating or electrotyping solution, such as a nickel or copper plating solution, and is made the cathode in a direct current circuit until a shell of metal is electrodeposited on the exposed faces and connecting paths. The shell is separated from the block and is reinforced with a backing of type metal or the like. The body so obtained is faced by the electrodeposited shell and is then cut transversely of the facing into sections corresponding respectively to the individual letters of the firstmentioned block. The sections provide the desired matrices, and may be subjected to finishing operations prior to or after cutting.

The exact nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent from consideration of the following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a stopped-off block of type in a prespective view;

FIG. 2 shows a body of backing material faced with an electrodeposited shell produced on the block of FIG. 1, the view being in perspective;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, elevational, sectional view of a drilling arrangement for making locating recesses in the body of FIG. 2;

'FIG. 4 shows an arrangement for slicing the recessed body of FIG. 4, the view being in fragmentary, sectional elevation;

FIG. 5 shows a slice of the recessed body as produced on the slicing arrangement of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows the slice of FIG. 5 after milling of a shoulder;

FIG. 7 shows the milled object of FIG. 6 after further milling of a first lateral groove or nick;

FIG. 8 illustrates the object of FIG. 7, after the milling of an additional lateral groove or nick; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a section of the object of FIG. 8 which constitutes the finished matrix of the invention.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawing in sequence, FIG. 1 shows a block which is obtained by assembling individual pieces of type 1 in a rectangular pat- 3,405,104 Patented Oct. 15, 1968 'ice tern with the faces 2 of the type directed upwardly and arranged in a common plane. The block illustrated has nine pieces of type arranged in three lines and three columns perpendicularly intersecting the lines, but it will be appreciated that the number of lines and columns may be increased substantially if so desired. Proper alignment of the type in the lines and columns is provided by interposed conductive spacing material, not itself visible in FIG. 1, because it is recessed from the letter faces.

The several pieces of type are conductively connected with each other by the spacing material, and a lead Z is securely attached to one piece. While type having nine different faces is shown in the drawing, it is preferred to combine type having identical faces in a block. The block of type is partly covered with conventionalstop-olf material, such as wax composition or polyvinyl chloride plastisol, which is non-conducting. Only the heads of the type, and narrow portions of the bodies and of the spacing material which provide conductive paths between the type heads, project above the stop-off material.

The block as shown in 'FIG. 1 is immersed in an electrotyping bath, such as a nickel or copper plating solution having anodes of a corresponding metal suspended therein. The lead 16 is connected to the negative pole of a source of current, and nickel or copper is deposited on the type faces 2 and the exposed faces of the spacing material which are pre-treated in a conventional manner to facilitate separation of the electrodeposited metal shell 4 from the letter faces 2 after the shell has reached the desired thickness of a few thousandths of an inch. The face of the separated shell which was in direct contact with the type faces during the electrodeposition thus consists of negative replicas 8 of the type faces separated by a grid of perpendicularly intersecting ridges 18.

The shell 4 is next placed into a mold in such a manner that the surface originally in contact with the type face 2 is directed downward and covers the mold bottom, and the mold is filled with liquid type metal to a depth corresponding to the desired height of the matrices. The body 5 removed from the mold after solidification is shown in FIG. 2. The electrodeposited shell 4 forms a facing on the body which is a replica of the type faces 2, while the type metal provides a rigid backing for the relatively weak shell.

As shown in FIG. 3, the body 5 is placed on a drill press face down. The work support 6 of the press carries a square locating plate 7 which is precisely aligned with the vertical axis of rotation of the drill 9, and which fits conformingly into the square recesses 8 in the shell 4 which are replicas of the individual type faces 2. The drill 9 is conical and is used nine times to produce nine conically tapering locating recesses 17 in the metal backing of the body 5, each locating recess being precisely aligned with a recess 8 in the shell 4.

The body 5 is next sliced into three pieces along the ridges 18 separating the recesses 8 in the direction of the lines in the block of type 1 by means of a rotating circular saw blade 10 seen in FIG. 4. The precise alignment of the body 5 with the saw blade 10 during the slicing operation is readily achieved by a fence, not shown, in a conventional manner. The width of the saw blade and the setting of its teeth are selected to produce a cut as wide as the ridges 18 so that the ridges are removed during the cutting. One of the three slices formed is seen in FIG. 5.

When the type reproduced in a slice has the same face, a shoulder 11 may be machined in all sections of the slice in a single operation by means of a milling cutter as shown in FIG. 6. Nicks or lateral grooves 12 may also be cut to extend along the corresponding surfaces of the slice over all sections of the same as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. When the slice is ultimately cut transversely into 3 its constituent sections, a finished matrix is obtained as illustrated in FIG. 9.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to a specific embodiment, it is to be understood that it is not limited thereto, but it is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of preparing matrices for a composing and casting machine which comprises:

(a) forming a block of conductively connected letters,

the faces of said letters facing in a common direction;

(b) covering said block with stop off material in such a manner as to leave said faces and a conductive path therebetween exposed;

(c) making the covered block the cathode in an electroplating solution until a shell of electrodeposited metal is formed on said faces and said conductive path;

(d) backing said shell with reinforcing materials to form a body in which said shell constitutes a face portion; and

(e) cutting said body transversely of said face portion into sections corresponding to said letters respectivcly.

2. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said faces of said letters in said block extending in a common plane perpendicular to said common direction.

3. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said faces of said letters are aligned in said block in lines and in columns perpendicularly intersecting said lines.

4. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said reinforcing material is fusible, and said shell is backed by said material by casting the material on a face of said shell.

5. A method as set forth in claim 4, wherein said face of said shell is the face which is in conductive contact with said block while the block is the cathode in said electroplating solution.

6. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said faces of said letters jointly define a plane, and said letters are aligned in said block in lines and in columns intersecting each other and substantially parallel to said plane.

7. A method as set forth in claim 6, wherein said body is cut transversely of said plane into slices, each slice including the aligned replicas of the faces of a plurality of said aligned letters.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein a shoulder is formed on each of said replicas in a single operation, said shoulders being consecutive in the direction of alignment of said letters, and said slice is thereafter cut into sections including a single one of said replicas.

9. A method as set forth in claim 7, wherein a continuous nick is formed in said slice, said nick being elongated in the direction of alignment of said replicas, and

said slice is thereafter cut into sections transversely of the direction of elongation of said nick, each section including a single one of said replicas.

10. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein said face portion of said body includes a plurality of negative replicas of the faces of said letters, said replicas being aligned in lines and in columns perpendicularly intersecting said lines, and said block prior to said cutting thereof is provided with recesses in a face thereof spaced from said face portion in a direction transverse of said face portion, said recesses being respectively aligned with said replicas in said transverse direction.

11. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein said recesses taper substantially conically from said spaced face toward said face portion.

12. A method as set forth in claim 10, wherein a fixed locating member is inserted in each of said replicas in conforming engagement therewith during said providing of said recesses.

13. A method as set forth in claim 1, wherein conductive spacing material is interposed between said letters in the forming of said block to conductively connect said letters, said spacing material being recessed from the faces of said letters, whereby said shell of conductive material includes a plurality of negtive replicas of the faces of said letters, and ridges interposed between said replicas, and said ridges are removed from said body.

14. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein said ridges are removed during said cutting.

15. A method of preparing matrices for a composing and casting machine which comprises:

(a) forming a block of conductively connected letters, the faces of said letters facing in a common direction;

(b) covering said block with stop off material in such a manner as to leave said faces and a conductive path therebetween exposed;

(c) making the covered block the cathode in an electroplating solution until a shell of electrodeposited metal is formed on said faces and said conductive path, said shell defining a plane transverse of said common direction; and

(d) cutting said shell transversely of said plane into sections corresponding to said letters respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 522,319 7/ 1894 Ferguson 2046 960,684 6/1910 Nicholas 2046 1,122,725 12/1914 Gammeter 101-4014 2,400,518 5/1946 Kreber et al. 2046 HOWARD S. WILLIAMS, Primary Examiner.

T. TUFARIELLO, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METHOD OF PREPARING MATRICES FOR A COMPOSING AND CASTING MACHINE WHICH COMPRISES: (A) FORMING A BLOCK OF CONDUCTIVELY CONNECTED LETTERS, THE FACES OF SAID LETTERS FACING IN A COMMON DIRECTION; (B) COVERING SAID BLOCK WITH STOP OFF MATERIAL IN SUCH A MANNER AS TO LEAVE SAID FACES AND A CONDUCTIVE PATH THEREBETWEEN EXPOSED; (C) MAKING THE COVERED BLOCK THE CATHODE IN AN ELECTROPLATING SOLUTION UNTIL A SHELL OF ELECTRODEPOSITED METAL IS FORMED ON SAID FACES AND SAID CONDUCTIVE PATH; 